Picture of the Day - 3/20/2011

Foxie Posing in Phlox - Foxie is always so accommodating! We placed her in the midst of (I believe) a field of Drummond Phlox. She posed so nicely for us during her "photo shoot"; turning her head first one way and then the other - sometimes smelling the fragrance drifting in the wind. What a happy dog! Settings: ISO 400, 1/160th second at f13, 28-300mm lens.

Picture of the Day - 3/19/2011

Texas Wildflowers (cont.) - Texas did not have the near rains of last year, so the predictions for wildflowers have been scaled back some. However, there are very good pockets of colorful flowers around Kerry and Richard's place east of San Antonio. This is farm and ranch country and Sheila and I drove around the nearby roads on the lookout for colorful patches. We ran into this one near a local Baptist church and I couldn't resist the layers of color in this composition. From front to back, Texas Paintbrush, Bluebonnets, what appears to be Missouri Primrose and more Texas Paintbrush and primrose. There is a good Web site for Texas wildflowers here: http://www.texaswildflowerpictures.com/

Picture of the Day - 3/18/2011

Texas Wildflowers - Sheila and I are visiting her sister, Kerry, near San Antonio for the next week. One thing I was hoping for was that we would be in time for at least the first blooms of Texas wildflowers and we weren't disappointed. Texas Hill Country" west of Austin (primarily). There are nice pockets of flowers here and there, despite the fact we're a little further south than the prime areas. I took this picture in a vacant lot southeast of San Antonio, but there were nice areas along both sides of the road. Most of the flowers are Texas Paintbrush with some unidentified pink and yellow flowers. There is a good Web site for Texas wildflowers here: http://www.texaswildflowerpictures.com/

Picture of the Day - 3/15/2011

Pelicans in Flight, Boca Chico Beach, TX - Sheila and I spent the morning at Boca Chica Beach, the southernmost beach in Texas and just across the Rio Grande from Mexico. It's possible to drive your car out along the beach there and the few people there were usually fishing. While Sheila collected seashells, I walked Foxie and photographed the brown pelicans and other seabirds in the area. The pelicans typically fly in long lines parallel to the shore. Settings: ISO 400, 1/4000 second at f8, 28-300mm lens handheld.

Picture of the Day - 3/14/2011

Sunset in Laguna Atascosa NWR - We moved our camp to Brownsville, Texas, and spent most of the day in the Laguna Atascosa NWR - famous for the elusive ocelots living there. Unfortunately, they are nocturnal, so the chances of seeing one in the wild are very slim. However, there were plenty of waterfowl and other birds. This scene was taken on the Lakeside Road near the visitor center. Settings: ISO 200, 1/250 second at f5.6, 400mm lens on tripod.

New Workshop and Tour: Nat Coalson and I will be leading a new all-day photo shoot and Lightroom seminar at Garden of the Gods Park and Visitor Center, Saturday, June 4th. The cost is only $119 and you may register here. I'm also in discussions with a tour operator and guide service for a photo tour of Costa Rica in early November. We'll have room for a maximum of six participants. Please email me for more info.

Picture of the Day - 3/13/2011

Sunset in Mexico - We're camped right on the Rio Grande where we can see across to the wilderness and wildlife preserves in Mexico. Friday night, we were walking the dog right around sunset and captured this palm tree with the setting sun. I love the orange sky here...who says you can't/shouldn't shoot into the sun? Settings: ISO 1600, 1/1000 second at f25 28-300mm lens, handheld.

Picture of the Day - 3/12/2011

Santa Ana NW Reserve, McAllen, TX - This is the fourth and final day of the Summit, so I'm including a photo taken last Wednesday of the group of us walking out to the trailhead of the Santa Ana NWR near McAllen. This was one of the better spots to photograph aquatic birds and we ran into several - roseate spoonbills, grebes, egrets, cormorants and many others. Settings: ISO 200, 1/800 second at f5, 100-400mm lens.

Picture of the Day - 3/11/2011

Green Jay, Martin Reserve, TX - This is the third day of the Summit, so I'm including a photo taken last Tuesday of another green jay, a common species this time of year. It was taken from a blind at the Martin Reserve. They never rest for very long, so you need to be fast on the shutter. Settings: ISO 200, 1/1000 second at f4, 600mm lens and fill flash with Better Beamer magnifier.

Picture of the Day - 3/10/2011

Buff-Bellied Hummingbird, Hidalgo Pumphouse Reserve, TX - This is the second day of the Summit, so I'm including a photo taken Wednesday of a buff-bellied hummingbird (Amazilia yucataneous), a common species this time of year. It was resting on this branch for quite a while, affording me the chance to manually focus the lens deep into the bush. Settings: ISO 200, 1/40 second at f13, 400mm. This handheld shot was only possible by using an image-stabilized lens.

Picture of the Day - 3/9/2011

Green Jay, Martin Refuge, TX - The NANPA Summit started today, so to spare you from more rug pictures (joke from last year), I'll show you another image from the Martin Refuge taken last Tuesday. The green jay is one of the more colorful and plentiful birds in the area tis time of year. South Texas happens to be the location for a convergence of two major bird flyways, as well as the northern terminus for many of the tropical birds flying up from Central and South America. As such, the area around the Rio Grande River is rich with diverse birdlife. Settings: ISO 200, 1/3200 second at f4. Fill flash set at -2/3rds shot through a Better Beamer magnifier.

Picture of the Day - 3/8/2011

Roadrunner, Martin Refuge, TX - I spent the afternoon today at the Martin Refuge (www.martinrefuge.com) sitting in a blind and photographing the myriad of birds found here. Joining me in the blind were, photographers, Jon Fuller (Moab Photo Tours) and Jack Panseca (27 Birds). The blind was about three feet below grade, so we were able to set up tripods with lenses just above ground level for perfect eye-to-eye photography. Dominant birds included green jays, yellow-fronted woodpeckers, cardinals and long-billed thrashers. We did manage to photograph a roadrunner, who (very politely, I thought) posed for us in various spots, turning his head first one way and then the other, just showing off the the cameras. I was using the 600mm lens with the Canon 1D Mk2 body with a 12mm extension tube to bring the focus a little closer. The refuge management had constructed a couple small ponds and several nearby natural-looking perches. Settings: ISO 200, 1/4000 second at f4. Fill flash set at -2/3rds shot through a Better Beamer magnifier.

Picture of the Day - 3/7/2011

Sunset over the Rio Grande River, near McAllen, TX - Sheila and I arrived to the RV park about 5 PM today. Our camp spot is very close to the edge of the Rio Grande River in South Texas. It's in the high 70s and slightly humid, but otherwise pretty comfortable. We just finished a nice visit with good friends King and Sharon near Austin and will be spending this week at the NANPA Summit (www.nanpa.org), an annual nature photography conference. As I was reheating leftovers, I noticed the sun was preparing to set, so I ran out to the river's edge and grabbed a few shots. Settings: ISO 200, 1/125th second at f6.3. I cropped the image at the top and bottom for a better composition. Note the ugly posterization around the sky - a good reason to have saved this as a TIFF, rather than a JPEG (with associated loss of bit depth/resolution). Makes for a classic picture, though. The next two days, I'll be spending on wildlife preserves, so hopefully, will capture a bird or two.

Picture of the Day - 3/5/2011

Meerkats, Oklahoma City Zoo - It's probably not possible to take a bad meerkat picture! Oklahoma soil contains a lot of brown clay, which colors their coats. Settings: ISO 400, 1/640 second at f8, 360mm lens.

Picture of the Day - 3/4/2011

Mountain Lion, Oklahoma City Zoo - The Oklahoma City Zoo has been fixing up their displays over the last several years, primarily to make the enclosures more natural-looking. This mountain lion was photographed through a plexiglass viewing port, which allowed for unrestricted photography. Many zoos still have fencing that tends to interfere with picture-taking, but we'll be talking about zoo-photography and how to overcome this in the March newsletter. Because this was taken in the shade, the lighting was nice and even, however, there was a slight blue color-cast that had to be corrected by adding a little yellow. I liked the natural-looking pose, but this requires a lot of patience - a good trait for wildlife photographers!

Picture of the Day - 3/3/2011

Pops Store and Restaurant, Oklahoma City - Our last stop during our visit to Oklahoma City was to the famous Pops Restaurant and soda pop store. Located just off the historic Route 66, the store sells hundreds of exotic soda pop. Sheila and I also split a whopping-big chicken fried steak dinner - a classic meal in this area. While we were eating dinner, I noticed a sunset was happening and captured an image of their multi-colored soda pop bottle, which I estimate is about 75 feet high.

Picture of the Day - 3/2/2011

Peacock Displaying, Oklahoma Zoo - Sheila and I visited her cousin, Jeanne, near Oklahoma City. Jeanne is an artist who paints wildlife portraits and enjoys visiting the zoo to make "reference photos". We spent the next couple days there and in our wanderings, found this peacock displaying for the ladies.

Picture of the Day - 3/1/2011

Sunset Panorama, Vega, TX - Sheila and I are on our way to the NANPA Summit (www.nanpa.org), which will be held in McAllen, Texas, this year. We're making stops at a couple friend's homes on the way. During a gas/dinner stop in Vega, Texas, we caught this unbelievable sunset. It warranted a panorama, so this image was comprised of four separate, overlapping, shots and stitched together in Panorama Maker 4. Settings: ISO 400, f4, 1/100th second, handheld. Next stop, Edmond, Oklahoma and a visit to the zoo.